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The End Of WSD And The Beginning Of MD&D There’s an old proverb saying that when one door closes, another opens. Well, this August’s issue of Wireless System Design (WSD) is the last. And while that is the bad news for those of you who have stayed with this publication, I have some good news as well. A new publication will emerge in September. Called Mobile Dev & Design (MD&D), this monthly online publication will provide similar and even expanded coverage of wireless. So don’t fret. — Louis E. Frenzel July 7, 2008 What’s Next For Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi is that short range wireless LAN technology that practically everyone uses. Also known by its IEEE standard designation 802.11, it has achieved ubiquitous status since virtually all laptops incorporate it and there are few, if any, enterprise LANs that do not support multiple access points. But in all its glory, Wi-Fi is nearing that state of being taken for granted. — Louis E. Frenzel June 9, 2008 Amateur Radio Still Going Strong The Dayton Hamvention is one of the longest running continuous amateur radio conferences in the world. This year was the 56th installment of the event and it was held in its usual place, the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio, May 16-18. I haven't been to the event since I worked for Heathkit back in the late 1970s and early 80s. With a major article on amateur radio and the latest equipment facing me, I thought I had better take a look to see what is going on in this amazing hobby. — Louis E. Frenzel May 12, 2008 The Bigger The Better? Or Do Good Conferences Come In Small Packages? The wireless industry, especially the cell phone sector, changes so fast that if you don’t continuously monitor changes, you will invariably be left in the dust. Conferences are a great way to stay abreast, but the effectiveness varies from gala to gala. — Louis E. Frenzel April 7, 2008 Living Through Cell Phones In case you haven’t noticed, we live in a cell phone-centric world. Steve Largent, president and CEO of the CTIA said at one of the keynotes during the recent conference, “We are living through our cell phones”. At first I was skeptical of such a statement, but thinking about it, he’s right. — Louis E. Frenzel March 10, 2008 60 GHz Of Promise Land . . . Or Is It? Each week I hear more about products and plans for the unlicensed 60 GHz spectrum. Yes, that is 60 gigaHertz, or 60 billion cycles per second. Very high frequency indeed. What can you do with frequencies that high? Well, with all the progress in 60 GHz semiconductors, we are about to find out. A 60 GHz wireless product is probably in the near future. — Louis E. Frenzel February 11, 2008 Antennas: The Black Art Of Wireless The theory is well known and the design/simulation software is better than ever, but antenna design seems to thrive on intuition, a bit of art and some believe actual magic, and lots of experimentation. — Louis E. Frenzel January 2, 2008 What’s Happening In Short-Range Wireless? There are literally dozens of methods used in transmitting data wirelessly over short distances. Here is a look at what is happening with some of the more commonly used standards like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB and ZigBee. — Louis E. Frenzel November 28, 2007 Will Google And Femtos Reshape The Wireless Industry? There are a couple of subjects I never got around to this year in WSD, specifically the Google cell phone possibilities and femto cell’s potential. None of this exists at the moment except for some trials here and there, but you will be hearing more about them in the coming year. Here is a look at what to expect. — Louis E. Frenzel November 5, 2007 The Cell Phone: Best Wireless Product Ever Or Menace? Have you become dependent on your cell phone? Do you feel naked without it? Has your cell phone become a source of entertainment as well as just a way to make a phone call? Most of you would say yes to all those questions. Which is why the cell phone business has grown so big and continues to get bigger. — Louis E. Frenzel October 3, 2007 Sputnik: Golden Anniversary It was 50 years ago October 4th that the first successful satellite was put into orbit. Launched by the Russians, this satellite called Sputnik, as basic as it was, set off a stream of events that could not have been anticipated. Besides starting the space race, launching the satellite industry, revolutionizing the telecommunications business, and intensifying the cold war, this satellite had so many unintended consequences, good and bad, it is hard to identify all of them. — Louis E. Frenzel September 6, 2007 $200 MILLION PER MEGAHERTZ If you are a wireless wonk like me, you have been following the story of how the FCC has been deciding upon the rules for its upcoming spectrum auction. Thanks to some horrendous lobbying by cell phone carriers, Google, and a host of others, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and the other four commissioners have decided on how the spectrum should be sold and used. If you have not been following this whole process, you should take a look at what is going on... — Louis E. Frenzel April 9, 2007 WiMAX Progress Not Slowed By Competition WiMAX, one of many broadband wireless standards, is finally making progress—despite the massive competition. — Louis E. Frenzel December 4, 2006 Good News About Ultra Wideband The good news is that ultra wideband (UWB) wireless is finally here. The bad news is...well, I can’t think of any bad news. UWB chip vendors finally have working silicon. Now they are announcing their FCC approvals and WiMedia certification and registrations, as well as identifying some initial customers. Looks like we will actually be seeing some real UWB wireless products this coming year. — Louis E. Frenzel December 4, 2006 Dual-Mode Handsets Dead On Arrival? With so many manufacturers making dual-mode cell phones, you would think this was a hot market. It is not. In fact, NO cellular carrier offers these handsets and probably will not, as they compete directly with their own businesses. — Louis E. Frenzel November 8, 2006 A Bent Piece Of Metal As wireless devices have continued to move to higher and higher frequencies, antennas thankfully have gotten smaller. Now instead of the "whip" antenna that used to be a common sight on cordless phones, cell phones, and other wireless devices, antennas are typically totally internal. If you see any vestige of an antenna on a product, it is a small protrusion at most. But that does not make it any less important. — Louis E. Frenzel August 3, 2006 Wasting Away In A World Without Wireless As I was trying to think of a topic to write about this month, my mind wandered off into contemplating what this world would be like without wireless. A heavy duty, "what if" brain exercise for sure. Maybe discussing, or even thinking about, something that is not real is a huge waste of words, but it does make you appreciate what wireless has given us. If you work in wireless as I do, we should all demand more respect in the future. — Louis E. Frenzel March 2005 An Old Favorite Has A New Twist Lately, it seems like everyone who is connected to the wireless-handset market is concerned with convergence. Previously, such convergence meant having one device that could function as both a phone and an e-mail/wireless-Internet device. In other words, people thought the trend would be toward carrying a single device rather than a cell phone, Blackberry, and more. Yet only a small fragment of the market—mostly... — Nancy Friedrich February 2005 Billing Issues Leave Users Unsatisfied A few months ago, my husband and I decided to purchase new cell phones. We opted to stay with our existing carrier and called to see what type of deals were available for new phones. When we found out that we were each eligible for a $150 rebate, we went to the store to compare the newest makes and models. It quickly became clear that we could choose a basic 2G phone or a full-featured phone with all of the newest bells and whistles—video capability, color display, camera, etc. There... — Nancy Friedrich January 2005 Services Put An End To Simple Times Did you ever watch any of those old, black-and-white science-fiction movies? They were so forward thinking in their depiction of technology. A spaceship crew, for instance, was often shown talking via handheld devices that were part of complex communications systems. Yet the moviemakers' imaginations only went so far, as the films always showed wired devices. As we begin 2005, the situation is the opposite: It's becoming harder to imagine a world that's not wireless. Over the past... — Nancy Friedrich  prev. page
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